Can-filling machine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' H. R. STIGKNEY.

CAN FILLING MACHINE.

Patented Dec. 12, 1893.

R. STIOK NEY. CAN FILLING MACHINE.

4 SheetsSheet 4 (No Model.)

Patented Dec. 12, 1893.

. a u 654i:

.4 ill IONAL umoa wummaw NITED TATES ATENT anion.

HENRY R. STIOKNEY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

CAN-FILLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,618, dated December 12, 1893.

Application filed January l2, 1889. Renewed April 3, 1893. Serial No- 468,960. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

l 3e it known that I, HENRY R. STICKNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Filling Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inventlon, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to machines for filling cans in which the cans are fed in succession beneath a vertical filling nozzle.

The form of the invention herein shown and described was devised particularly for the can-filling machine patented to Henry R. St1ckney by Letters Patent dated April 5, 1887, and numbered 360,541, although it is equally Well applicable to other can-filling machines.

Inthe Stiekney machine above mentioned and in other machines of this class where the filling material, as for instance green corn, in the packing of which such machines have been largely used, is forced by a plunger through a filling nozzle into the mouth of the can, difficulty has always been encountered by reason of the ejection from the mouth of the can of a portion of the corn at the end of the piston stroke or when the last end of the charge entered the can. The jet of air which was then thrown outby the corn crowding into the upper corners of the can always carried with it a considerable quantity of oorn'and this materlal being thrown about in all directions was a source of greatinconvenience and waste. It is to the stopping of this annoyance and the savln g of this waste that my present invent1on 1s directed and by its use I am enabled to direct all the overflow from the mouth of the can which is being filled back to one of the empty cans or any other convenient receptacle.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated so much of the can-filling machine shown in Letters Patent No. 360,541 above spoken of as to show clearly the application of my invention to this machine.

In the drawings, Figure l is a general side View of the can-filling machine with my in- Vention applied. Fig; 2 is a front elevation 0 is the hopper of the machine and below I it is the charge chamber P in which the plunger R reciprocates.

' O is a cut-oif plate or slide which is interposed between the hopper and the charge chamber when the latter is full and before the stroke of the plunger. The plunger is reciproeated by the vertical rocking levers Q Q-which are connected with it by means of a cross head 10" and links 72, The cut-01f plate 0 is reciprocated by means of a like lever 0" connected with it by the links 0.

The levers O and Q are operated by cam mechanismlocated beneath the bed of the machine which gives to the plunger and the cut-off plate the following motions, viz: Assuming that the cut-off plate and the plunger are at their extreme rear position, the former first moves forward cutting off the connection between the hopper and the charge chamber and remains in this position while the plunger moves forward and expels the charge through the filling nozzle g. Then both move back together to their rear position. The empty cans are fed down through the reservoir R falling in succession on the table 6 wherethey are fed intermittently in a continuous line beneath the filling nozzle by the rotation of the cams N N. The form of the cams issuch that each can is made to pause long enough beneath the filling nozzle to receive its charge.

Having thus described the operation of the machine so far as necessary to understand my invention I now proceed to set forth the construction and operation of the attachment which embodies my invention.

A tube 1) is provided having at each end an offset or opening d and d on the under side thereof at right angles or nearly so'to its length. The end containing the opening 01 is provided with lugs d by which it is pivoted to the body of the machine. The center cures the ring A to the offset (1 of the opening (Z is at a distance from the center of the filling nozzle equal to the width of one of the cans so that it will come directlyover the mouth of the next can to the one being filled when the latter pauses to receive the charge. The openings (1 at the opposite end of the tube D is of oval shape as herein shownand of somewhat larger diameter than the filling nozzle which passes vertically down through it with a fit sufficiently tight to permit 1ts sliding up and down on the nozzle. A flange d surrounds the under side of the opening (Z forming a telescoping portion to the nozzle. The nozzle g does not extend qu1te down to the top of the can but a space is left between its lower end and the mouth of the can.

Around that portion of the tube which forms the offset or opening (1 namely, the flange cl, is an elastic packing ring A which projects below the opening and is adapted to form a tight connection with the top of the can when pressed down upon it. A binding ring A having lugs a a and a set screw a therein for the purpose of adjustment, so-

It will be seen that by reason of the nozzle g being smaller than the opening (1 a space is left which connects the mouth of the can and the body of the tube. The end of the tube through which the nozzle passes contains the lug d having an opening on top in which plays the arm I) by which it is depressed. Ihe arm 11 is connected to a horizontal shaft b ournaled in the bearings b and having at 1ts end a rocker arm B which is actuated by the vertical lever O which strikes against it on ts forward stroke. A spring d secured by 1ts lower end to the tube D and by its upper end to an arm d attached to the body of the machine operates to raise the tube D when the rocker arm B is released from contact with the lever C. j

The operation of the device is as follows, viz: When the cut-off slide is pushed forward by the lever C as already explained the latter strikesagainst the rocker arm B when at or near the end of its stroke and depresses the free end of the tube D bringing the packing ring A in tight contact with the top of the canlin the position shown in Fig. 3 There is thus established a closed connection between the interior of the can out by one side of the nozzle and the interior of the tube D and thence to the mouth of the adjacent empty can as indicated by the arrows in Fig.3. The lever 0 holds the tube down until the charge has been forced into the can by the action of the plunger. The air from the can which is displaced by the filling material is forced through the tube D as is also any material which it carries with it and any surplus or overflow from the can, all being discharged into the adjacent empty can or into any other convenient receptacle. The filling material is thus saved, the top of the can kept clean and the squirting of juice from about the filling nozzle avoided. The charge having entered the can the lever 0 moves back releasing the tube D which is lifted by the action of the spring cl so that the can is free to move along to make room for a new one.

It is obvious that many modifications may be made in my device as here illustrated and particularly described while yet keeping within the spirit of my invention as set forth in the claims. If the spring cl as here shown were in compression when the tube D was down whereby the tube would be kept pressed downward at all times against the top of the can which came beneath it, and sliding along over the line of cans as they passed underneath, the device for raising and lowering here shown might be dispensed with. This modification of my device would operate substantially as that herein described except that the packing ring would remain at all times in contact with the can or cans.

The invention is applicable to can-filling machines where the can is lifted to receive the charge. It is not necessary to have the connection between the filling nozzle, the tube, and the packing ring absolutely air tight but they should be sufficiently tight to prevent the escape of any material quantity of juice.

It is evident that my invention can be applied to machines wherein the filling nozzle is not telescoping and in which the can is lifted to the nozzle.

I claim- 1. In a can filling machine the combination of a filling-nozzle the lower end of which is adapted to make a tight joint with the top of the can, the lower end of said filling-nozzle being provided with a channel leading from one side thereof and communicating with one side only of the stud hole of the can and a discharge passage connecting said channel with the stud hole of an adjacent can, substantially as described.

2. In a can filling machine the combination of a telescoping filling nozzle, a tube leading from said filling nozzle through which the surplus material can be conveyed from said filling nozzle, said tube being provided with a discharge opening through which the surplus material may be discharged into a second can, substantially as described.

3. In a can filling machine a filling nozzle consisting of an inner stationary tube circular in cross section, an outer telescoping part elliptical in cross section, and having a circular opening in its top at one end of the ellipse to which the stationary tube fits, and a dis charge tube leading from the chamber between the two nozzle seetions, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY R. STICKNEY.

Witnesses:

S. W. BATES, ROBERT A. DAVIS. 

